


Knowing

by FiveStillAlive



Series: Trickster [6]
Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Established Relationship, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-22
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-18 06:22:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13094271
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FiveStillAlive/pseuds/FiveStillAlive
Summary: With Odin gone and Asgard settled, Loki can find out who he really is.... Hmm.  Still a trickster.  Meh.(Works fine without the rest of the series!)





	1. Chapter 1

"Loki, are you-" His brother strode into the library, spotted him, and sighed as if Loki were making trouble, which was entirely unfair. "You said you could not walk up cliffs."

Loki was forty feet up the wall of books. Rather than using one of the ladders, he was standing easily on the wall, body perpendicular to Thor's. Also to gravity. Loki waved his arm to demonstrate. "This isn't a cliff." He was particularly pleased with this trick. Unbeknownst to Thor or anyone else, when Loki had consulted on the design of the library, he had embedded this magic into it. Anyone could walk along the strips of marble dividing the shelving, it was simply that no one else would think to try. He'd filled the palace and city with these tricks, and found it terribly amusing to imagine them eventually being discovered by accident.

Thor scowled authoritatively.

Loki rolled his eyes. First, he didn't accept Thor as an authority over him. Second, Thor adored him doing magic like this. He was probably acting this way to conceal his arousal.

"Are you aware that half my warriors have been tracking a pregnant razor lizard all morning?"

Loki sighed. "I hope you haven't come to ask me to track a lizard for you, brother. I don't care how dangerous their hatchlings are; I do have some dignity."

"Interestingly enough, they finally cornered the thing in a basement, only to find it had vanished when they went down after it."

Fuck. He'd set it to disappear when no one could see it; he hadn't planned for that happening while it was cornered. "Razor lizards are enthusiastic burrowers."

"There weren't any burrows. Not a single scratch or crack on the walls."

"Very mysterious. It takes an hour to prepare that kind of spell; I'm sure your capable warriors can hunt it down faster than that."

"Loki! I know you did it! Come down here!"

"I'm hurt!" Loki protested. He opened his mouth to argue more, when something behind Thor caught his eye. "Look out!"

Thor spun, and braced to meet the charging razor lizard. Five feet of densely armored, sharp scaled irritability lunged at him, and Thor grabbed at it to find... air. It vanished.

"Loki!" Thor shouted, and turned back to the wall of books.

Loki, of course, was gone.

\---------------

When Loki came to the feast in the hall that evening, he returned Valkyrie's short sword, left on a table when she had charged after a razor lizard, and complimented her on its excellent wards against demons. She was surprised, having not realized it was stolen, and gave him a playful punch.

Loki spent a few minutes at her table. He liked Valkyrie. She'd spent long enough on that oubliette that she was easily accepting of Loki's ways, and a little bit of a misfit herself.

She examined the returned sword's sigils idly. "You... aren't really Asgardian, are you?"

Loki's guts clenched at the words, but it was an old pain. "Not strictly speaking." It was relatively common knowledge, now, but Loki tried to suppress discussion on the subject, and Thor backed him, for once. He didn't really mind people knowing he wasn't Asgardian, but he hated being thought of as an ice giant. He clearly wasn't. "It's not a trick. Odin took me as an infant; I didn't even know until a few years ago. What gave it away?"

Valkyrie shrugged. "Everything. You don't act Asgardian. You treat the city like a favorite conquered territory, rather than home. And... you really don't act Asgardian."

"I protect this city. It is mine." he said mildly, not arguing. "How do I not act Asgardian?" He could think of several ways, but was curious to see what she'd noticed.

"Stealing." she said, putting her sword away. "Trickery. Using your magic constantly. You sleep with your brother-"

"Lots of Asgardians do that."

"Not the way you do. Brothers might have some hanky panky when they're young and learning, and if they both become warriors they might still fuck around a bit when they're drunk after a battle. Hell, shopkeepers do that too. But that's just childish messing around. You're seriously in it with him."

"Point taken. Though, technically he's not my brother. Before we knew, we were more casual and infrequent about it."

"So you have a sense of decorum after all." Val sounded amused.

Loki thought it was more that they were closer now, but would hate to admit that.

Valkyrie continued. "Plus, you're not.... You know, Asgardians are... strong. We deal with the world mostly from strength. So we're fundamentally direct in a way you aren't."

Loki nodded. He knew what she meant. Asgardians weren't foolish or naive, but they were naturally honest, and had trouble expecting otherwise from others. "Yes." Then... "So do be fundamentally direct. Does my brother have a favorite when I am away?"

She laughed. "Jealousy! Another trait other people seem to have in much higher abundance! No, Trickster. He rarely sleeps alone, but no one replaces you."

"Thank you." He'd have to marry eventually. Loki had every intention of finding that woman first and charming her so thoroughly she never minded him stealing her husband away.

"Want to make him jealous?"

Loki looked at her in surprise, then smiled. He did like Valkyrie. "Oh? What do you propose?"

"He's watching you now. Now, if you make a move on me, he'll think you're up to something, no more. But if I just...." In a graceful but aggressive move, Val shifted in her chair and was suddenly straddling Loki in his. "Play along, Trickster." she purred.

Loki's shock turned to a predatory smile, and he ran a hand slowly up her thigh. The outside of her thigh. He wanted to keep the hand. "Who knew millennia on a world of criminals was all it would take to teach an Asgardian to trick."

She snorted, amused, fisted a hand in his hair, and pulled him into a deep kiss.

Fuck.

She finally pulled away, and grinned at his slightly dazed expression. "There. Now go find your boy. You owe me one, for the ride he'll give you tonight." She hopped up. "Actually, you stole my sword; you owe me two."

"Yes." Loki agreed. Indeed he did.

Loki made his way to Thor's table. The warriors sitting there were laughing uproariously and aimed friendly teasing his way as he sat, still slightly dazed. Thor laughed at his expression, and pulled him down beside him, with a hand clapped on his shoulder. Loki cleared his throat. "Valkyrie is... a very impressive woman."

The warriors cheered agreement, and laughed again, probably at his shock, and went back to whatever story had been in progress.

Thor was definitely keeping that arm around his shoulders. Loki shook his head. How scandalous. Asgardians did not possess their lovers, and warriors were particularly easy with their affections. But then, Thor had rarely had reason to doubt having Loki's full attention.

"Well, I got what I was after." he murmured, pitched to only reach Thor.

Thor looked at him, startled.

"The sword." Loki said, innocently.

\-----------

"Fuck!" Loki gasped, clutching the sheet under him. "Fuck, Thor, yes!"

He was sprawled across the bed, legs off the side and over Thor's fantastic shoulders. Thor was knelt - KNELT - between his legs, sucking Loki's cock with all the skill and enthusiasm you would expect of a passionate thousand year old god of thunder who hated to sleep alone.

Loki gasped and writhed and dug his hands tightly into the sheet. He desperately wanted to put them in Thor's hair, and if he did he would certainly... be a less than considerate lover. Another night, another night, he told his hands urgently, as Thor's throat worked around the head of his cock.

But Thor, ever sensual, grabbed Loki's hand and put it in his hair. Did he not understand Loki's temptation? Loki growled, mostly at himself, and caressed and combed as he knew Thor loved. Until Thor started to rumble around his cock, and Loki clenched a fist in his hair and pushed him down, while thrusting up. Thor made a pleased noise, and oh fuck, that was it! He came, and Thor drank every drop.

Loki stared at the ceiling, trying to remember to breath, until Thor loomed over him, grinning.

Loki groaned. "You can't just kneel before me like that, brother. It isn't fair."

"Does it tempt you?" Thor seemed terribly amused. "Surely you can control yourself."

"I can control you!" he snapped.

Thor smirked. He bent close to kiss the skin under Loki's ear, and murmured "Yes, my king."

Loki gasped, and he jerked upright and pushed Thor to his back. "You- You!"

"Did I speak out of turn?"

Loki pounced on Thor, and snapped magic around his wrists, pinning them to either side of his head. Like most of his magic, the bonds worked on Thor's mind, not his muscles. Thor could break free if he was determined enough. But a bedroom game wasn't likely to make him that desperate.

And after a brief, surprised struggle, Thor seemed to have little interest in freedom. Loki bent low over him. "Say that again."

"My king!" No hesitation or shyness.

Loki tried to keep himself under control. "I'm going to fuck you now."

Thor's eye widened in surprise, but he spread his legs eagerly to Loki's touch.

Loki retrieved the oil and put it to use, taking his time. His brother would need some preparation. "It's been... oh, decades since I've done this to you, brother. How long has it been since you let anyone have you so?"

"Several years, highness."

A nice touch, Loki had to admit, as his eyes narrowed. Asgardians suffered only mild pangs of jealousy. But as Thor knew, Loki was not Asgardian. But the 'highness' soothed him. "Who?"

A hint of alarm in Thor's eyes. Ah, someone he wanted to protect. "I can hardly remember now, my king. How could I think of another when in your presence?"

Loki decided to let him get away with that. Power imbalance and bondage were not a natural Asgardian fantasy, and Thor was doing a very good job of indulging him. He kissed his brother gently, and put his mouth to good use, roaming over Thor's body, until the tightness around his fingers relaxed.

He released Thor's arms as he positioned himself. He knew his brother well. Bondage during foreplay could be adventurously foreign, and exciting in its strangeness. Bondage while being actually fucked would make him feel filthy, in an entirely unpleasant way. An unfair standard, as Thor held him down with his own hands during sex quite frequently, and wouldn't mind at all Loki returning the favor.

He pushed slowly into his brother, watching carefully for signs of pain. Thor moaned and arched up, always wanting more.

"You are so...." Loki stroked back Thor's hair, luxuriating in seeing his golden brother sprawled under him like this, flushed and wanting. He laughed a bit. "You are pretty, dear brother!"

Thor laughed, which did lovely things around his cock. "Do you think so, majesty?"

Loki chuckled, and rocked his hips gently, making Thor moan. "Yes, you are pretty." He fingered one of Thor's braids. "Which of your warriors did this?" He knew how affectionate they were together after training.

"A... a few of them. Loki, please!"

Loki better angled his thrusts, but slowed the pace. Thor groaned in need.

"Please my king, please more!"

Loki purred at that. "Touch yourself."

Thor did. He didn't tease himself, but fisted his cock immediately and began steady pumps. Loki adjusted his pace to match.

"I would keep you at the foot of my throne." Loki murmured, pacing even his words to Thor's need. "I would have you in golden armor and loose hair, and a bright sword. You would lay the heads of my enemies at my feet."

Thor was too close for words, trembling on the verge. Loki pushed in deep, setting him off, and murmured praise for Thor's wonderful performance through his ecstatic shudders.

Mmm. He finished leisurely, enjoying how relaxed and pliant his brother was after orgasm. When he did climax, it was with some regret that it was over.

Thor wrapped him in his arms when Loki lay atop him, and Loki started to drift off. But he smiled when he felt Thor start to braid his hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blah! I had this whole idea where Asgardians braid each other's hair as signs of affection, and Thor thinks Loki just doesn't like having his hair braided, and then he realizes that Loki doesn't have anyone to braid his hair except Thor, and then FEELS happen.... But it just didn't fit in anywhere. Maybe I'll sneak it in another chapter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He turned to his brother in shock, verging on horror. "What have you done to me!?"
> 
> "What? What's wrong?"
> 
> "I am MONOGAMOUS!"

Loki had found he enjoyed embedding magic into the very layout of the city. It was a great trick. As long as no one caught on to what he was doing, if he ever needed to defend the city from attack he would come off looking quite formidable indeed. If anyone ever did catch him, he would be able to honestly explain each and every spell as a benefit for the city.

Currently, the city was expanding another ring out around the palace. And Loki was breaking into the planning hall to modify the design of the "decorative" gold that would inlay the main encircling street. The new design would be a modified version of the sigil on Valkyrie's short sword, and would significantly weaken any demon passing it.

Best he be quick, however. He had left Thor sleeping. He'd left a light on in Thor's study, and the door barely cracked, and an illusion of Loki reading, so if Thor woke he might simply think Loki was there, and go back to sleep. If he did discover Loki's absence, in the middle of the night, it would be difficult to explain.

If he was discovered, Thor would be absolutely thrilled at him using his magic in defense of the city. He would likely tell his warriors what Loki was doing, in his ongoing effort to improve their opinion of him. It would absolutely ruin everything.

\------------------

Loki left, and tricked a ship of pirates into breaking into a treasure vault, and reclaimed some ancient Asgardian armor. Really, half the theft he was up to these days hardly even counted. Many powerful artifacts stored in Asgard's vaults had survived Ragnarok, and been picked up by opportunistic treasure hunters with the patience to search space debris. Asgard had several ships there doing the same thing, now, but others had a good head start on them.

From there he went to Casr, where he helped a princess escape an upcoming arranged marriage to a deeply unpleasant man. A good deed by anyone's score, surely. The princess's escape disrupted the Casr's alliance treaty with Thel, who had been planning war on one of Asgard's realms.

Loki had decided to attempt to not screw absolutely everyone over, unless he had a reason to. Thor's insistence that Asgard did not need more enemies had made him consider it, and he had rather enjoyed the game of swooping in as a savior before Ragnarok. It kept people off balance, and less quick to murder him. And he had discovered that tricking people into thinking well of him could be just as much fun as tricking people in other ways.

He was briefly stranded on PXK, after the ship of pirates tracked him down. He pretended to be one of their holy figures until he was able to procure a ship he could fly himself. He left them with a new holy story about Loki, a god who was stolen as an infant, abused by his adoptive father, but generously found it in his heart to save his adopted people. For comedic relief, the god had a buffoonish brother who swung a hammer around, never knew what was going on, and occasionally hit his own head.

Look, it wasn't all good deeds.

\------------

Loki lay beside his brother, enjoying the afterglow of a particularly combative roll.

Mmm. Thor was certainly the only one he allowed that particular liberty.

He took some pride in his greater sexual experience, and broader tastes. His brother had as many bed partners as he wished, but they were almost exclusively Asgardian, or similarly wholesome. Loki was quite the outlier for him, and would ensure he remained so. But lately it seemed that Loki's former, rather epic romps into various kinks on other worlds held less interest, even as a casual diversion. He hadn't been to a Ticrean bondage party in ages. In fact, the last time he'd even....

He sat up abruptly, mind working frantically to recall. There had been Sakaar, and the Grandmaster, and....

"Loki?"

He turned to his brother in shock, verging on horror. "What have you done to me!?"

"What? What's wrong?"

"I am MONOGAMOUS!"

Thor blinked at him, then broke into a grin. "Oh, Loki!" He rolled to run a hand over Loki's stomach, and followed with a kiss. "That is so sweet!"

Then laughter overcame him, and he collapsed, snickering, into Loki's lap.

"I haven't slept with anyone else in years! Not since before Ragnarok! Did you do this to me?"

Thor could barely seem to breath for laughing. "Oh yes! My magnificent cock has ruined you for all others!"

Loki scowled at him, until Thor rolled off of him, and stopped giggling. "I can't believe you did this to me!"

"Loki...." He wiped a tear of laughter from his eye. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry! What do you mean?"

"Just as I said! No one else, at all! I haven't even wanted to!"

"Brother, that isn't healthy!" he said gently.

"Not for Asgardians." Loki muttered. He pushed out of bed, irritated. "I'm going to go sleep with Valkyrie!"

Thor's face lit into a relieved smile. "A fine woman! She's always liked you!"

"And whichever of your men I find first!" Loki flung at him.

"What, at once? Valkyrie might have a preference."

Loki growled frustration at his support. "Maybe I'll have an orgy!"

"Okay...."

Loki snarled and stormed out. His frustration was not in the least helped by that having been a complete bluff. He had no interest in going to bed with Valkyrie, or any Asgardian, or anyone else at all!

Well, Valkyrie.... He could write epic poetry for her. If she commanded it, he would warm her bed in an instant. But he didn't feel any longing to put himself there.

He prowled irritably for a while, aimless, then found a ledge overlooking the courtyard and climbed onto it.

Asgardians were a very loving, open people, with barely any concept of monogamy. It was a strange thing in offworld romances, which they enjoyed hearing about in a fantasy setting. Young teens with their first lovers often claimed eternal monogamy, and adults tried not to laugh in front of them, because puppy love was so sweet. Beyond that the closest they got was marriage. The higher one got in status, the more it was expected for husband and wife to forego others, as inheritance was a concern. But even that only applied to partners where a child might occur. No Asgardian would ever suggest another give up all other lovers. That was seen as dangerously isolating, and a certain sign of depression. Loki's own standoffishness around the warriors was occasionally a subject of gossip, though usually dismissed with the assumption that Loki was getting his needs taken care of by way of weird Trickster sex with offworlders. Even so, he'd heard himself used as an example of the dangers of not bonding properly to your peers.

But Loki was not Asgardian. He didn't know if ice giants were monogamous, but he was loath to think much if it, because he was not an ice giant. But... perhaps he, whatever he was, was monogamous by nature.

Most of his offworld sexual adventures, now that he thought of it, had never been about connecting to others in the slightest. They had been... elaborate masturbation, with sentient sex toys. From any emotional standpoint, that was all they were. Or many of his partners were for manipulation and gain. There were precious few partners he'd regarded as real people.

Damn Thor.

Should he tell him again, and try to explain properly? Perhaps he should pretend to take other lovers. Perhaps he should really take other lovers. The thought held no interest for him.

A movement in the courtyard below caught his eye, and a moment later had his full attention. A few young adolescents were sneaking around the deserted night streets, as children should at that age. They seemed to be heading for the large central fountain, and Loki felt a jolt of excitement. Had they found it?

He realized how visible his outline would be on this ledge and hurried down, to press himself against the side of the window and watch. They had!

Footsteps behind him. "And what are you doing at this hour, Tri-"

"Shh!" Loki hushed him hurriedly and waved him over, excited.

Faden frowned, but approached quietly, and peered out the window.

He gasped to see the children laughing and spinning in a cloud of glowing bubbles. One of them threw a pebble into the fountain, and there was a delighted cry as another flurry of lights was released.

Faden gapped at the delightful scene. "Is this your doing?"

"Yes. It only works when it's dark enough, but I knew someone would find it eventually." Loki was absolutely giddy, and barely cared that Faden could see it.

Faden stared at him in shock.

Loki sighed, remembering himself. "Not all of my tricks are bad."

"You are encouraging children to sneak out in the middle of the night!"

"Yes!" Loki snapped. "Also in the mad notion that they can discover things on their own!"

Faden cleared his throat uncomfortably, accepting that this was not a prime opportunity for accusing Loki.

"I'm curious to see what it looks like at maximum capacity. At this rate, they'll have it there soon."

"It's... lovely. I didn't know you did such things."

Asgardians. Honest and open. He could offer his company to Faden for the night, and he would surely be taken up on it.

He regarded the man. He did enjoy keeping him off balance.

But he couldn't imagine getting aroused at his touch. He couldn't imagine inviting his hands. He could imagine seducing him and using him for gain, but... having sex with him just for fun? Just to form a connection? He did not want so close a connection with Faden.

\----------

Thor hummed sleepily when he returned, and put a warm arm around him. "Have fun?"

"I didn't bed anyone. I think I really am monogamous."

"Loki...." Thor sighed. "You used to have lots of partners! The last years have been very confusing. It's natural you'd have difficulty trusting, and focus on one safe partner." He nuzzled Loki's shoulder. "I'm sure once you do, you'll remember how good it feels. In fact, since you're changing your patterns anyway, maybe do look more among our people? I know you've been working to be more accepted by the warriors, and I'm certain it will be better for you than your..." He waved a hand vaguely. "offworld bondage parties."

Loki glared at him. "I am not planning on changing my patterns. Truly, I seem to be monogamous. None of my other partners held interest to me; they were either playthings or I was using them for something. I've hardly ever had other lovers."

Thor groaned and put his hand over his face. "Oh fuck, Loki." He cursed creatively a few seconds, then asked in horror "I didn't have your virginity, did I?"

"Of course not." He grumbled. That had been Thain. Then several other convenient boys. Loki had... wanted to work out the details, before he seduced Thor. Perhaps best not admit that just now. "I'm not asking you to be! I thought you should know."

Thor groaned. "Is it because you've been rejected? It's been years! The warriors all like you now, they just think you're strange! I don't think anyone would reject you!"

"I have never been rejected! Not by Asgardians!"

"No, of course, you've done the rejecting. You think they won't forgive it?"

"I don't want to sleep with any of them, that's all. I never really have. It was always just a means to an end." He scowled at Thor. He had hoped his brother might be... well, touched. It wasn't the Asgardian way, but surely Thor could appreciate it. "I'm not saying I'll never have anyone else! If I want to, or have a reason to-"

"Have a reason! I promise, I will play very dumb about any complaints of missing items. Go, bed people, steal things!"

Loki hissed, and sat up. "I am NOT Asgardian!"

"It's isolating! I knew you favored me a great deal; I had no idea it had gotten this bad! It isn't healthy to only have one attachment!"

"I have attachments!"

"Go have some more! What if something were to happen to me?" He cut off his rising anger, and caught Loki's hand. "You should not be lonely, brother. Find someone you like. They can travel with you, so you don't have to be alone while you're away. I should never have had you go off by yourself like that."

"I don't want a traveling companion!"

"I can't do this to you. It isn't healthy, it isn't right for you! Go find another lover. Don't come back to me until you have."

Ah. Well. Now he knew what being rejected by an Asgardian felt like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate it when they really fight : (


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes Thor is an idiot, but Loki knows this.

"Valkyrie!" Thor called out to her as she exited the training ground.

She gave him a glance of acknowledgement, and waited for him.

"I need to talk to you."

"I gathered." She raised an eyebrow, and led their path out around the ground.

He glanced around. Alone enough. "Do you consider Loki a friend?"

She smiled. "I do, actually. He's fun."

"I'm concerned he's... isolated."

She snorted. "What, sexually? I think Loki takes care of his own needs."

"I'm not sure that he is!" Thor swung his arms, embarrassed. "Last night, he started.... He seems to have gotten the idea he's monogamous."

"Huh. I'd wondered."

"No! He isn't; he used to have lots of partners!" Thor tried to explain it in a rush. "He's just.... The last years have been too much for him, I think. He trusts me, and he sort of... got confused."

"Did he now?"

"I thought... perhaps you could give him a push? Help him remember how it is to connect?" Loki had never been as close to their peers as he should have been, and Thor hated to think of him so cut off.

Valkyrie sighed. "I know he's not Asgardian. Do you know anything about the mating habits of his kind?"

Loki always vehemently denied being a frost giant. His reasoning seemed to be that if he was too deformed to even live as an infant, and then he'd spent his entire life shapeshifted, then he was certainly too dissimilar to be called one now. In any case, Thor knew nothing of frost giant mating. "Loki doesn't really have a kind." he admitted. "But that's just it, he's never fit in. Can't you help him?"

"Sure." She sighed. "I'll see if he's interested. But I don't think you're thinking this through. What if he really is monogamous?"

Thor snorted. "You didn't know him ten years ago!"

"Yeah yeah, lots of sex. Did he actually get close to any of them?"

"Well...."

"And by all accounts, before Ragnarok your brother was a scheming jerk, even before his little episode of being seriously evil. I would guess the sex he was having back then was not happy, connection-building sex. It was something he did to manipulate. It probably dehumanized everyone around him."

Thor made a frustrated noise. "Fine, yes, I see your point. But he doesn't have to go back to having that kind of sex!"

"Okay!" Valkyrie said cheerfully, as if he were a student who had just made an important connection. "So! You're not trying to get him back to normal after a traumatic few years! You are trying to change him!"

"I-" Thor's sigh was more of a growl. "I just don't want him to be alone. I want him to love our people, and feel loved."

"He may have to do that without sex." She said gently. "I am much older than you, I have seen much more of the galaxy. Asgardians are fortunate in our easy connection and love with each other. On most worlds, connection is a difficult thing they must work at always. It must have been very frustrating for him to grow up unable to connect as easily as we do, and not even understanding why."

Thor looked down, ashamed now that he had immediately assumed Loki's proclaimed monogamy to be a madness, rather than a true self-discovery. "Thank you. I... will have to apologize to Loki."

Valkyrie gave him a startled look. "Oh no. What did you do?"

Thor grimaced. "I told him it wasn't healthy, and not to come back to me until he'd bedded another."

"You ass." She said, as a statement of fact. "Well, he's smarter than you, he probably won't do that."

But now Thor was worried. "What if he does?"

"He's monogamous, not allergic to others! He'll have a disappointing fuck. It will probably make him feel isolated, since he won't get the rush of connection we do." She glared at him. "Of course, this is all assuming he doesn't form mating bonds."

"What?" How could this be so complicated? Couldn't Loki just share his bed and enjoy himself?

"Well, some kinds form mating bonds. Some of them are pretty flexible, and can switch to a new partner under stress, and some bond for life. Whoever they're bonded to is the only person they'll really be able to relax and enjoy sex with. But that would only make sense if he'd only bonded to you in the last few years, and you two have always slept together, right?"

"Well... yes. But we have been much closer since Ragnarok." Mating bonds. Thor was increasingly convinced that Asgard had the best system.

Valkyrie shook her head. "No telling, then. In any case, pressuring him to get with other people is more likely to make him feel detached than connected."

Thor grimaced. "He is going to be so difficult about this."

"Sounds like you deserve it."

\--------------

He wandered around in search of Loki.

Finding Loki was a different task than finding anyone else. Loki hiding liked isolation, or at least distance. He liked high perches. The higher it was, the more difficult a mood. And of course, that was assuming he didn't conceal or disguise himself with illusion.

Thor spent almost ten minutes being led in circles by phantoms before he realized that if Loki was playing such a game with him, he would be somewhere where he could watch. He eventually found Loki up a grand tree.

Only thirty feet. He might be able to talk him down.

"Is that really you?"

"Climb up and find out."

Thor was... not graceful in trees. He scowled. "I could pick it up and shake you out!"

Loki glanced down at him. Eight inch spikes grew from the tree.

Thor grimaced. He knew they must be illusions, but it would be difficult to convince his mind of that enough to test it.

He growled frustration. "I am SORRY, okay?" He walked around so Loki was at least facing his general direction.

Loki opened his hand and blew, and a flurry of snowflakes drifted down onto Thor's hair.

He sighed. "Okay, yes, sometimes I forget you're a different kind. You always take it badly if I call you an... anything else."

Loki slipped onto an even higher branch, disappearing from view.

"And I suppose I've never thought much of monogamy. It's just... the thing lovers have in those offworld romances. I never really thought of it as real. Valkyrie told me off like a school teacher."

"Valkyrie?"

"I went to her to ask her..." Uh. "About... monogamy."

"Oh, really?" Loki sounded amused, at least.

Thor decided to change the subject away from what he might have asked Valkyrie for. Getting Loki down from a perch was not a matter of straightforward apology and reasoned discussion. Loki was best lured down. "I brought you a present."

There was a rustle, and Loki's face appeared over a branch. "What?"

"It's very old."

Loki dropped down a branch, skittish but tempted. This was an old game, and Loki could rarely help himself. Thor brought good gifts. "Is it powerful?"

Thor felt as if he were trying to entrap a fairy, and smiled. "Very. But it isn't magical."

Another cautious branch down. "Not a weapon?"

"No." Thor agreed.

"Is it a trap?"

Thor grinned. "Come and see."

"Powerful without magic, old, and not a weapon." Loki mused. "Is it an acorn?"

"Brother, I hope I have never given you a gift so modest." Then he blinked at his clever brother making such a mistake. "And acorns are not old."

"No? Oak trees can be very old, and the acorn is only a piece of the tree."

"At first perhaps. Once it falls off, it is it's own."

"So it is."

Thor sighed. "You are not Asgardian, but you are not what you came from either. I will not forget again."

Another branch down. Loki was out of the thick bunch of branches now. Thor could jump to him. Loki saw it too, and stayed cautiously close to the trunk.

"My gift is also not Asgardian."

He looked so tempted. "Is it a made treasure?"

"Yes. Do you want it?"

Loki hopped to the ground in front of Thor. And now, by the rules of their game, he had to guess. If he got it right, he got the present. If he got it wrong, he had to continue guessing. Except instead of coming down a step each guess, Thor got to take increasing liberties to distract him.

Loki eyed him challengingly. "It is a book."

Thor grinned, and surrendered it.

Loki was immediately fascinated, as he always was. In some few ways, Loki could be very easy. He ran his hand over the cover. "Poetry? Ahh.... You brought me monogamous love poetry." He opened the book to one of the earliest pages. "Traditionally, I believe the penitent lover is supposed to recite the poetry."

Thor swept around Loki, and put his hands on his waist and his chin on his shoulder, so he could read. He murmured directly into his ear. "I wake each morning, my heart in y-" He stopped, distracted, and double checked the waist under his hands.

"You're female!" In this dim light, he hadn't seen the subtle signs of Loki's less common form.

He could practically hear Loki roll his eyes. "It suited me." He flipped the page.

Thor had never really understood this particular part of his brother. Then again, last time he'd seen Loki do this was ages ago. Loki had said it wasn't illusion, but beyond that, he had been evasive. "You never did explain how you do this." Thor got little chance to question him on it. It was a rare trick and, by chance or design, Thor had been away any time he did it for more than a day or two.

"You were reading me poetry. To apologize. For when I gave you a secret, and you kicked me out of bed and told me not to come back." He glared over his shoulder at Thor. "Then you went running to Valkyrie and shared my secret. Is this apology meant to cover that at well?

"Give me another chance, brother. Tell me this secret too."

Loki sighed. "I don't do it, exactly. Sometimes I feel more like a woman, and this happens if I let it."

"So...." Thor felt a blush rising at the entirely inappropriate thoughts coming to mind. "It's real?"

"Completely. I bleed." Loki made a little noise of interest, and smoothed down the page he was reading.

Oh fuck. If he did that, he was fertile. If he was fertile, then Thor was suddenly eager to get him with Thor's child.

"I hardly ever see this part of you."

"I have given you two secrets in two nights, brother. I demand poetry."

Thor laughed, took him by the hand, and led him to a slope where the lights of the city were blocked, to better watch the stars. They settled against a tree trunk and cuddled together. Thor read poetry, murmuring the words directly into Loki's ear, until Loki straddled him and kissed him breathless.

Thor groaned pleasure, and tried to open Loki's clothes. But every time he did, his hand was brushed away, so he gave up. He slid a hand over Loki's clothed chest, until he found the swell of his small breast. Loki moaned, and opened Thor's pants, and began rubbing.

"More poetry, brother." Loki said, and slid down to sprawl across Thor's legs. He teased the tip of Thor's cock with his tongue. "I am waiting."

Thor shook himself from staring, and found the book. He took the time to flip a few pages until he found a good one, and read, telling his brother he would rather wake to him than any other, and could hardly sleep without him. Loki's mouth slowly took his cock, and worked him to higher passion.

Every time his voice faltered, Loki stopped, until Thor was so close he took mercy, and saw him through a loud climax.

He grabbed Loki before he could make his escape, and pulled him into a kiss. He put the book behind his back, to prevent Loki taking it and disappearing.

Loki saw, and squirmed against his hold. "You're being entirely unfair."

"Well, I like you."

Loki squirmed and struggled a bit more, but seemed to be in the mood to be caught, and settled against Thor's chest. Though Thor noted him feeling ribs, finding a place to stab.

He decided he best distract Loki quickly. Having gotten the gist of this style of poetry, he murmured his own into Loki's skin. Loki laughed at a few of his weaker lines, but seemed pleased. He stretched sensuously against Thor, and wrapped his arms around his neck.

Hmm, he really was female under those clothes. It was a subtle change, disguised by his wardrobe, but with Loki pressed up against him like this it was hard to miss.

"Am I supposed to call you a she, now? Or my sister?"

"No, I'm still me. It's just a biological change."

"But you said it happens when you feel like a woman." What did that even mean? Hopefully, it meant he was in the mood to become pregnant.

"I.... Two secrets in two nights! And you rejected me, and told my secret, AND you stole my present!" Loki sat up straight, to look at him indignantly. "AND I sucked you off!"

"Okay, I'm sorry! 'Brother' it is!" He chuckled at Loki's irritation. "I didn't steal your present, I just don't want you to go." Loki loathed surrendering something he'd been given. "And it seems I have some work to do balancing the scales."

"You do."

Thor kissed his brother, and pulled him close again, and rolled to be on top of him. Except the roll ended with Loki pushing him off, sending Thor tumbling six feet down the slope.

He got his head up and looked at his brother in alarm, just in time to see Loki snatch the book he'd been guarding, give him a triumphant smirk, and vanish.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone's concerned about Loki still wanting to be "he"ed... that will get discussed eventually, but I'm gonna be honest, it's in the next story in the series, which I'm currently writing. And that bastard put up a fight over me writing that scene - nine fucking rewrites! She did NOT want to talking about her feelings!
> 
> For this story... Loki doesn't owe Thor or anyone else an explanation.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Forgiveness is easy; forgetting can be harder.

Loki didn't go to Thor that night, but she did go with him and his warriors to fight griffins the next day. Of course, most of his warriors were men, and noted Loki's state quickly. Her wardrobe made her form easy to forget and ignore, but didn't fully conceal it.

They were accustomed to Loki's refusals as a man, and only made an occasional, casual attempt to bed him any more. As a woman, she found herself a subject of renewed interest. The assumption seemed to be that Loki would only become a woman if she wanted a child. And Thor clearly hadn't gotten her with one already, or he would be treating Loki more protectively, rather than throwing firewood at her for making Thor think he was lost. Any woman suspected of being in a child-bearing mood became very popular indeed. It was several hours' walk to the griffins' valley, and Loki spent little of it without one companion or another walking beside her and talking to her.

At first it irritated her. They hadn't become any more interesting or subtle than when she was a man. Loki wanted to turn on them all, power showing, and remind them that she was Loki! They should all be cowering at the mere prospect of displeasing her, not boring her with stories of feats of strength! But Thor was there, and he would ruin things, like always. So then she started having fun, playing them against each other for her imagined favor.

When she consulted with Thor on the map, Thor leaned in to murmur in her ear. "Not so monogamous as a woman?"

"Oh yes, watch my clothing simply fall off at their tales of hitting things."

"Did I tell you about the time I threw a giant over a whole village?"

Thor leaned in to kiss her, but had the good sense to end the kiss quickly before Loki could snap teeth on his tongue.

\-------------

"LOKI!"

Oh my, her dearest brother had made it home at last. King and Thunder God, his fury echoed the palace's halls.

Hmm. More annoyed than Loki had anticipated. Loki eyed the delicate equipment surrounding her, and hastily put an end to her work. She'd initially reasoned that letting Thor find her with such fragile company would force him to hold his violence. Now she suspected she'd just lose months of work.

She exited her official, not-secret workroom, and looked down the halls warily. Thor would find her soon. A few people gave her looks.

"SHOW YOURSELF, TRICKSTER!"

Now, that was uncalled for, at that volume. Loki bit her lip nervously. Where to do this? She'd been planning on the bedroom, before that second shout, but Loki did not think such privacy would serve her well, now.

She went to the throne room. It was important she beat Thor there; Loki did not come when called with such disrespect. She leaned against the side of the throne and adopted a careless, bored attitude only an instant before the door was flung open.

"LOKI! You left us there to die!"

Loki sighed and ran a regretful hand over the throne as she straighten, as if disappointed it wouldn't be hers after all. "I left you there to fight griffins. Which I believe was what you wanted to do."

Loki yelped at being taken by the neck and shoved back against a column. Thor was much angrier than expected.

"Where were you? What were you doing, you treacherous snake?"

Loki squirmed against her brother's hold. "This seems an overreaction." she said urgently, confused. She cast her eyes over the other warriors, all watching with annoyance but completely unhurt. "No one was hurt; it was only some griffins!"

"Where were you!?"

"Ah!" She twisted her hand, and it appeared. She offered it to her brother. "I was getting the Griffin's Helm!"

Thor didn't take it. "You abandoned us for a trinket!"

No, she had abandoned them to abandon them. The trinket was incidental. "I knew you'd be fine. Probably."

Thor loosened his hold on her. "We should continue this discussion in private, brother." He finally released Loki, and turned to stalk away.

Loki rubbed her throat. "I'm not going off with you so you can yell at me some more."

"Fine, stay here." Thor swept out the door.

Loki eyed the warriors. They looked quite unhappy with her. "Thor!"

And... yeah, he'd left Loki alone with a bunch of angry warriors. Loki gave them a nervous smile, and hurried after her brother. "Thor!"

She caught up with him, and hissed "They look just as confused as I am, brother. They may be mad at me on your behalf, but even they know you are over-reacting!"

"Over-" Thor looked at her, growled, and held his tongue until they reached his room.

"Why are you acting like this? So I left you in battle. It's hardly the first time! I used to do this all the time! To be completely honest, I rather thought you enjoyed the challenge."

"I did, when I thought it was just fun! But apparently when I thought we were having brotherly fun, you were building resentments against me!"

Loki was momentarily startled by that. "Ahh, I see."

"I thought you were past this, Loki!"

"I am!" Mostly. Enough.

"What did I DO? What am I not doing?! WHY CAN YOU NOT JUST TELL ME WHEN YOU THINK I HAVE WRONGED YOU?"

Loki stared at her brother in shock, suddenly understanding. Then she lunged forward to embrace him. "No. No, brother. No, it is not like that. I did not do this in spite. I swear to you. It was for fun only. A game, a trick. You know my ways." No, no, no. Her madness had left scars in her brother's mind. It seemed unfair, when she treasured her brother so. "I promise you. I will always cause trouble for you, but it will never be like that again."

Her brother was trembling. Thor. Shaking with the thought of Loki taking herself away again. It was heartbreaking.

"I'm here. I'm not leaving." Loki stroked Thor's hair. There were a lot of reasons for what happened between them, those few years. In her opinion, Odin was the one most to blame, and Thor had not been ready to be king, and Loki was not at all convinced she had acted wrongly, other than what she'd done to Earth, and she hadn't been entirely in possession of her own mind then. She could not be sorry for much of it. But she was sorry that she had been so cruel to Thor. She was sorry that she had tried to drive her brother away from her so fiercely. She knew her own mind, now. She knew she had lost so many certainties that she'd had to know, beyond all doubt, that her brother would never stop loving her. She'd had to be completely certain. She had been furious at her brother for what she was certain was false love, until finally she had begun to believe it. "I promise you."

Thor let out a relieved breath against Loki's skin. He was beginning to relax at the reassurances. Slowly, his panic at thinking that this old game signaled old resentments was fading.

"In fact, the problem will be trying to get rid of me." Loki said, still stroking Thor's hair but seeking to lighten the mood. "If you ever do try, you will have a terrible time of it. I won't allow you to."

Thor chuckled. "You make it sound so frightening."

"You should be frightened." She smiled. "Last time you even suggested we separate, I started Ragnarok."

Thor squeezed her extra tight for a moment, then let go with a sigh. "I am sorry I yelled at you so." He kissed her.

Loki purred into the kiss, but moved away when Thor tried to pull her closer. "Go clean; you're a mess."

Thor growled happily at her noticing. He thought himself very impressive after a battle, and most of Asgard encouraged him. "Well, I was fighting griffins. We had a plan of attack, but something went wrong."

"I regret nothing, and owe you not even a dirtied shirt!" She was already filthy with Thor's grime, but she wasn't about to let Thor continue to dirty her.

Thor captured her in an even more thorough embrace, and ran a hand through her hair, making sure to dig his fingers in to muss her as much as possible. Loki's indignant cry came muffled by Thor's especially sloppy kiss.

"I'm sorry, brother! Let me get you out of those dirty clothes!"

"You brute!" Loki squirmed and fought, mostly for play, but also keeping him from getting her clothes open. "You're filthy! Get out of your own clothes!"

"Oh, as you wish!" Thor somehow kept one hand holding Loki captive the entire time he undressed. "Perfect! Now you can undress without risking filth on your skin!" He cupped Loki's cheek and stroked, deliberately leaving a smear of gritty hopefully-just-mud across her cheek.

"I think not." She put a hand on her brother's cock, and enjoyed how quickly it rose to full attention under her stroking. "Hmm." She leaned into her brother, and nibbled up his neck to his ear. At least he was relatively clean there.

Thor groaned, picked her up, and pinned her to the mattress. He kissed Loki's neck, and his fingers found one of Loki's buckles.

Loki pushed his hand away.

Thor sat up, looking at her with confusion. "You keep doing that. Loki, can I not take your clothes off?"

"I don't want you to." She'd wondered how long she could put this off.

"Why? It's not because I'm dirty; you did it last night too." He gave Loki that blindingly charming smile. "Was the poetry not enough?"

Loki had disguised the poetry book as a magical text and kept it by her bed. "The poetry was sufficient, I suppose. I can't expect too much from you."

"Then why? I'm sorry for what I said about your monogamy, truly. I am honored to hold such a place for you."

"I just said the poetry was sufficient apology."

Thor frowned. "Surely it is not because you are a woman."

Ugh. Thor dragged so many secrets from her. Once she would have said her brother was an unsatisfactory lover, or simply stabbed him and run off. Now she... honestly discussed feelings. "I never let anyone touch me like this."

"Never!?"

He could see Thor's healthy Asgardian sex drive go into a sympathetic panic. Saw him catch himself, and remember that they had just had this argument, that Loki did not require the regular bedding of multiple partners.

"You don't want a child?" He caressed Loki's hair. "I would give you a good one."

Loki rolled her eyes. "When I want a child of you, I will certainly take one."

"'When'?" Thor grinned.

"We're immortal; I'm bound to fancy the idea eventually." Especially now that they were so close. And Thor was so powerful. He would indeed give Loki a good one, though he might object when he saw what Loki created.

"There are a lot of things we can do that would not be a risk, brother."

"I am not ignorant." she sneered.

"Then let me. I swear, I will not attempt to get a child on you." He traced a teasing finger along Loki's jaw. "I've pleased plenty of women, and I haven't made you an uncle yet."

"Yes, you've have many a pair of soft thighs wrapped around that handsome face." Loki made mockery of the flattery. "Mine will not be one of them."

"Let me use my hands then." One hand trailed over Loki's chest. "My mouth can find another use, I'm sure."

Loki purred as the hand's path made it to her small breast. "No."

"No." Thor agreed, wistfully. "But I can touch you like this?"

"For now."

Thor rumbled his excitement at the challenge. He pushed one of his legs between Loki's, and lay over her to kiss her. His leg pushed firmly against Loki, giving a pleasant pressure through her clothes... oh yes, very well-centered over her clit! Loki moaned appreciation. It was a diffused, unhurried pressure, and Thor began to move against her in a perfectly relaxed way. Loki pushed up to get closer.

Then she pushed Thor onto his back, and climbed atop him.

Thor groaned. He was frustrated at being denied a way to please Loki, Loki knew. Thor was a naturally generous lover. But Loki evaded his further attempts, and took Thor's large cock in her mouth.

After, Thor held her like she was precious.

"I'm not even allowed to please you through your clothes?"

"Not right now."

"Loki. You do masturbate in this form, surely? Tell me you do not deny yourself so thoroughly."

She did masturbate, and enjoyed it greatly. "That is no business of yours, brother."

Thor groaned. "Do you have an honest sense of privacy about this, or do you just seek to torture me?"

"Bit of both."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thor wasn't at all convinced that Loki hadn't turned female just to have subtle new ways to throw Thor off balance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frank discussion of menstruation and masturbation herein.

Thor wasn't at all convinced that Loki hadn't turned female just to have subtle new ways to throw Thor off balance.

He'd been enjoying the challenge of Loki's strange refusal to be touched. Was it shyness? Fear of pregnancy? A discomfort with his own body? Did he just like making Thor put such effort into seducing him? Perhaps he simply wished to demonstrate that Thor would rather sleep chastely beside him than with any other.

But in any case, Loki had then left for a few weeks. He'd come back with a literal dragon's hoard of treasure, an evasiveness about the dent on the side of his ship, and exhaustion. He'd put up hardly any fight about Thor's fussing, and fallen deeply asleep as soon as he'd hit the bed.

Thor had risen first the next morning, so Loki must truly be tired. He woke his brother gently. He really needed him today; they were planning a network of defense towers and satellites that would spread into the wild around them. Loki would be invaluable.

But when Thor finished dressing, Loki was still in the shower. He'd been a while.

"Are you okay?" he demanded, stalking back into the bathing room. He was preemptively annoyed that Loki would deny he was ill.

"I'm fine. Go on to the conference; I'll be along."

Thor muttered a few curses. "Some dragons are venomous, you know! If you got even a small scratch-"

"I am not poisoned."

Only poisonous, Thor thought. But he held the snipe in. "You're clearly sick."

"Don't come in!"

Thor ignored that, and peered around the shower wall.

Loki was sitting under the spray, curled up on himself. "Thor!" he protested, but he sounded nauseous. He curled his arms about his chest and adjusted his legs to better cover himself.

It's really difficult to glare suspiciously at someone while not, um... looking. He ended up glaring mostly at a wall.

"I forgot how unpleasant this part of being a woman is!" Loki admitted, weakly.

"What?"

"I'm bleeding." Loki said, as if it were an explanation. He leaned back briefly, still covering himself. His face was paler than usual. He leaned forward again almost immediately. It seemed more like a slow writhe of pain.

So now Thor had to look. He tried to see this bleeding injury. If it wasn't healed still, how could Loki possibly deny poison? Then he spotted a thin swirl of red being rushed in the water, coming from... between his legs. "Ah! Oh, you're... bleeding! Uh... woman-bleeding!"

"Get OUT, you ignorant lumbering pig!"

Thor ducked around the wall to dodge Loki's half-hearted bolt of magic. He tried to think of what he was supposed to do, feeling a bit panicked. For all his successes with women, he'd never had much to do with them in a domestic sense. He was vaguely aware that when his women warriors ducked behind a tree, they were sometimes doing something more complicated than the men, and he had an academic understanding of the biology involved, but... what was he to do about Loki slowly, painfully, and intimately bleeding for days!? He was a king and god; surely he could do something about his brother bleeding and in pain!

Such as....

Well.

If it was someone else, the first person he would go to for help would be Loki.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Oh, yes, please." Loki said, gratefully. "Can you get OUT?"

Thor's relieved smile fell.

\-----------

The next morning was perhaps revenge for seeing Loki so vulnerable.

Loki was in the shower second again. Thor was fussing with his hair more than usual, a bit resentful over yesterday's rejection but still not wanting to abandon Loki in case he did need something. He would, of course, deny he was waiting around for his brother's convenience.

A faint frustrated noise, and a curse, came from the shower.

Thor sighed, knowing it was a trap. "What?"

Loki sounded terribly inconvenienced. "I forgot to masturbate this morning."

Uh. "What!?"

"It's this cup, it's always easier to place when I'm... relaxed." His voice turned warmly suggestive at the last word.

Thor's mouth dropped open, not at all sure how to process that transition. One second, he was imagining that flexible cup he'd seen, which his brother kept literally inside his own body, to catch his blood. It was a squirmingly uncomfortable thought, but also strangely pleasing to know such an intimate secret. Then Loki was dropping a seductive voice on him?!

"I used to always masturbate before I had to change it out, but you were lying right next to me and I forgot. And of course, once it goes in wrong one time it can be uncomfortable, even painful, then everything gets even more difficult."

Well, that was in his brain now. Now forever he had in his brain Loki talking about his vagina in such a practical, pragmatic way. He had Loki talking about using arousal with complete disinterest, as simply a useful way to get his vagina open. He had Loki describing his vagina being tight and tender, simply in terms of how it effected his utilitarian need to get his cup placed. That was in his brain.

"Realm's sake, Loki, I'm sorry I didn't leave when you asked yesterday." he said, hoping his surrender would be accepted.

Loki just went on, sounding irritated. "And it's impossible to masturbate in here. There's no comfortable position, and the water keeps washing away my natural lubricant, unless I'm making enough. Kind of need that."

Thor tried to imagine masturbating just to serve some mechanical purpose of unexciting hygiene. 'Thor, are you masturbating?' 'Kind of. I tried to put my dick-harness on, and it didn't fit and hurt, so I'm getting off to make it easier. Damn, not enough precome.' He shuddered.

"Thor. Tell me what you would like to do to me."

"Damn you, brother, stop switching!"

Loki snorted. "What?"

"You go from pragmatic to sexual in a word!"

"I will be pragmatically sexual. Tell me, brother. Help me relax."

Thor growled. "What if I refuse you?"

"Mmm. Not worth getting out of the shower and returning to bed to masturbate; I'd make a mess bleeding. I'll get it with a few more tries, I'm sure. I'll be sore with it all day, but needs must." Loki's tone dropped. "Perhaps you'd like that. You would like me sitting beside you all day, so intimately hurting. You can pretend to yourself that it was your cock that made me so."

Thor cursed creatively. Then he sighed and leaned against the wall. "You could just let me in."

"What would you do if I did?"

The fantasy came easily enough. "Kiss you, first. I wouldn't even bother to take my armor off. You would be wet and bare, and I would push you against the wall and kiss you. Would you make me fight for you? Or would you surrender to your own wants?"

"Neither. I am impatient, brother, I would have you simply see to me."

"Then I would. I long to touch your breasts, and see if they are as sensitive as I imagine, but I would kiss you, and your neck, and mark your throat. I would block the water from you, to better feel your own wetness, and put my hand between your legs without delay."

Loki was quiet behind the wall. But a lack of criticism was a good sign, Thor decided.

"But I would not penetrate you yet. I would explore your softness, and tease your clit." He began to rub himself through his clothes, considering where to take this. Loki's tastes differed from his. For himself, he would pick Loki right up, seat him on his shoulders, and put his tongue to good use to make Loki scream. But this was Loki's fantasy. He would go to his knees in worship, and have Loki hold a knife to his throat as he tasted his brother's sweetness.

"When you were wet all over, slick with need, I would go to my kn-"

"Ah, got it!"

What? "What?"

There was the sound of Loki doing a final rinse, then the water turned off. "I don't actually need to orgasm, just get aroused enough."

"But-"

Loki came out, wrapped in a towel, and grinned evilly at Thor's state. He pressed his wet body against Thor, and kissed him. "Thank you, brother." he purred, rubbing against Thor's clothed hardness. Then he whirled away.

"You- Agh!"

\----------------

Thor knew Loki would anticipate his revenge, and wake early to escape it.

So as soon as his brother tried to slide out of bed, Thor dropped an arm heavily over his chest. "Oh no you don't." he said sleepily.

"Broth-"

"No. You're only on your third day, so you'll still be bleeding. I would hate to cause you to forget again."

Thor could give him a challenging glare, even with half his face pressed into his pillow. He had a lot of practice.

"I would not want to disturb your sleep, dear brother."

He didn't bother answering that, just curled his arm on Loki's chest to play with a lock of his hair.

Loki sighed, but surrendered. Probably he hadn't lied about masturbation making the cup easier, and the hurt, if he was giving in this quickly.

Loki eyed him suspiciously, and pulled the blanket all the way up to his neck, pushing Thor's arm away, even though he wore bedclothes. Then he shifted around a bit, spread his legs, and slid a hand down. Under the thick blanket, that was really all Thor could tell. His eyes slid shut, and his face flushed prettily.

"What do you think of?"

He smiled.

"Brother. I won these stories from you fairly, remember? You did agree to tell me, even if it was some time ago."

"I suppose I did." Loki squirmed a little. "My fantasies are not even the same anymore."

"What do you think of while you do this? Tell me."

"Some of it is you." he admitted. "Your hands on me, your cock in me." His breathing began to deepen. "I still imagine you taking me as you would a man. I've never experienced another way."

"Some of it. What else? Tell me the most shameful of it."

"Mmm." The hand not between Loki's legs caught one of Thor's, and pulled it under the blanket, guiding it to one nipple, though still through his shirt. "Do not wander."

Thor teased the nipple gently, brushing the tip in a way he knew would be maddening. "A shameful fantasy, Loki." he murmured, not willing to be so easily distracted.

Loki's breath was getting quicker. "Very well. Do you remember your second horse, Svadilfari?"

"An excellent horse."

"Mmm. Yes he was."

It took a second, and Thor jerked up to stare at his brother more directly. "Loki!"

Loki eyed him with amusement, and bit his lip. Thor couldn't tell if he was joking. He wasn't sure he wanted to know!

"I thought you wanted me to take other lovers, brother!"

Thor finally closed his mouth, and pinched Loki's nipple hard, making him gasp and squirm. "Not my HORSE." And was Loki merely admitting a shameful fantasy, or an actual deed?

"Mmm. Don't worry, I think of you more." He took Thor's hand and led it to his other nipple. "I think of you holding me down. Oh. I haven't been in a bondage mood, but I imagine being- ah...."

Thor liked seeing Loki lose track of his thoughts in passion even better than he liked hearing his strange fantasies.

"Harder." Loki ordered.

Thor pinched his nipple again, grinning in delight. Loki was starting to sweat, to really get into his masturbation.

"I- your cock, so big, sliding into me, stretching me-"

"It could be."

"No. Ah. I also imagine you... owning me. Using me for your own pleasure, and sharing me with your friends. Th- that hulk beast."

"Are you sure you're monogamous, and not simply attracted to monsters?"

"I am not attracted to IT!" He pushed Thor's hand away. "I imagine you having me first, and being so gentle. You spill in me and move away, and sit back to watch as that creature thrusts into me, making me scream, hollowing me out. I can't look away from you. I know this is all for your pleasure."

Thor watched him intently, fondly. He'd always known his brother had strange tastes. Perhaps it was for the best he'd attached sexually to Thor, before he hurt himself bedding monsters.

"I- You would watch, and- Ah!"

Thor rubbed his cock idly as he watched Loki lose his tongue, for once. His face was lined with concentration, and he was trembling. Thor knew better than to interrupt, when a woman was this close.

Loki tossed his head back and came with a truly beautiful moan, and melted against the bed.

Mmm. Loki was just as devastated by a good orgasm in his female form as his male. Lovely. He seemed barely conscious, and would forget to breath for seconds.

He withdrew his hand from under the blanket, and began absently licking it clean.

"Oh, let me." Thor murmured.

Loki smiled at him, and offered his hand. Thor slowly and thoroughly sucked it clean, enjoying the taste. He very much hoped that Loki would eventually let him taste him directly.

Loki looked at Thor. "I would have you hold me."

Thor snorted at the weak attempt at a command, but eagerly wrapped his brother in his arms. Loki cuddled against him, absolutely blissed.

"Don't you have to change out your cup now?" Thor reminded him, reluctantly.

"No hurry. I feel so good."

Beautiful.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki rolled his eyes. "I promise you, brother, I will always be undermining you. You can view that as a benefit to your rule, or you can send me away."

Thor felt weirdly reassured by the screaming argument with Loki.

It had just been a long time since they'd had such a disagreement, over something that wouldn't actually destroy them. They'd spent the last few years carefully avoiding such fights, to make up for the terrible events of the few years before that. It had felt so normal. And he knew Loki had felt it too.

It was the Alxons. They'd been enemies of Asgard for centuries, only dropping out of being a threat in the last few decades due to another war taking their attention. Now it turned out that there had been another ship of survivors from Asgard! A ship with dozens of their people had coincidentally left Asgard mere hours before Hela's attack, and been captured by an Alxon slave ship. No one had even known of the ship's survivors until word from an ally reached them yesterday, with smuggled letters from the survivors as proof.

Thor, of course, immediately prepared his warriors to go into battle. They would retrieve their people, and bring them home!

Loki had wanted to meet with the Alxons and negotiate their release.

The Alxons were disgusting, slave trading thugs, not worthy of negotiation. They could waste months and get nowhere. Loki said that Asgard was in no state for a fight right now, and tried to argue that making deals with slave traders to buy their people back was safest. He even suggested it could lay groundwork for future peace with the Alxons, as if peace with those slimy abominations was to be sought.

Thor wasn't sure when the yelling had started. He had called Loki a coward. Loki had called him little more than a berserker. Thor had accused Loki of supporting slavers. Loki had screamed at him that Thor could no longer just run to Odin to be agreed with. Thor had shouted back that he didn't need Father's agreement, because he was the king! Loki had said his recklessness would destroy Asgard.

In any case, he WAS the king, which at least meant that he got to have his way in such things. So now Thor, and the select elite among his warriors, and even a sulky Loki were making the four day trip to the moon the Alxons had turned into a mining facility.

\-------

They got there to find it almost empty. They landed and searched, but it seemed their people had been taken away only days before. Furious, Thor burst into the overseer's office. The slimy Alxon had been confused to be threatened and interrogated by the Asgardian king who had only days before arranged a meeting to negotiate the slaves' release.

Thor had called him a liar, until he had shown Thor a recording of the vidcall. There was Thor, confidently asserting that their decades of nonaggression need not come to an end.

His rage had turned on his treacherous brother, except that when he tried to grab him his hand went through, and the illusion evaporated.

Oh, damn him.

"Has anyone at all touched Loki since we got on the ship?"

"You know he really doesn't like being touched when he's a woman, sire." said one of the warriors, a little reluctantly.

Oh, damn him! "Back to the ship."

\-----------

Thor stormed into the throne room to see himself, standing with a bunch of Alxons.

"Loki!"

"Brother! No need to announce yourself so loudly." Loki gave him his own smile, and Thor looked down to find himself in Loki's guise.

He strode toward his brother, prepared to wring truth from him in any form.

"I have excellent news! Our people are being released as we speak!"

That stopped Thor.

Loki gave him a forced smile that was all his, no matter what face it appeared on. "Right this very moment, actually. They're still mostly on the Alxon's ship. Being escorted off by Alxon guards. Come, join us."

Translation: Make a scene now and you'll get them all killed. Now PLAY NICE!

Thor smiled charmingly at the Alxons, wondering if his smile even worked on Loki's face. It occurred to him that he was in Loki's male appearance. Perhaps his brother did not think he could be convincing as a woman.

Extremely polite pleasantries were exchanged stiffly. Two more Alxons entered, and announced the trade complete. Tense farewells, and then the Alxons were gone.

Thor spun on Loki and Loki backed away hurriedly, raising his arms as if to calm Thor. "Now...."

Thor caught him and shoved him into a wall.

"Oh no, what treason!" his brother said mildly.

Thor pulled him back just to shove him again, and Loki finally dropped the illusions.

"Ah, brother!"

"What did you give them!"

"Only wood and iron! And a great deal of flattery! It will set our construction back less than a year! We can spare it!"

"Wood and iron!" Loki could not expect him to believe such lies!

"There are less than forty of them left, brother, many of them children. They are overworked, and the mine was running dry. They were not of much further value as slaves." He grimaced. "We can afford this. We can certainly afford this better than a war."

Thor let Loki go and paced back and forth angrily, because Loki was absolutely right. "I cannot have you undermining me like this!"

Loki rolled his eyes. "I promise you, brother, I will always be undermining you. You can view that as a benefit to your rule, or you can send me away."

Thor scowled at him for the suggestion, even knowing Loki wasn't truly threatening to leave.

"We don't have to tell anyone the truth. We can say we thought the Alxons would betray us, and refuse the meeting, so you went to rescue our people by force. I stayed just in case the Alxons should actually show up. To both our surprise, they did, so I simply fulfilled the backup plan."

Thor made a disgusted sound at the trickery.

Loki growled. "Oh, tell them what you like! Only go! Your people are hurt and in need, so go and be their king!"

Thor stopped pacing and looked at his brother in surprise. Then strode to him, kissed him, and murmured "Thank you, Loki. I know I can always count on you."

The he strode off, to be their king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And done!
> 
> Next part of the series will be up in a few weeks! In which Loki WILL talk about her feelings, no matter how many times she makes me rewrite it.
> 
> Omg, y'all, I'm up to eleven rewrites. Twelve? I don't even know anymore. *hides under bed*


End file.
